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Libertarian Roots of the Tea Party

Many people on the left still dismiss the tea party as the same
old religious right, but the evidence says they are wrong. The tea
party has strong libertarian roots and is a functionally
libertarian influence on the Republican Party.

Compiling data from local and national polls, as well as dozens
of original interviews with tea party members and leaders, we find
that the tea party is united on economic issues, but split on the
social issues it tends to avoid. Roughly half the tea party is
socially conservative, half libertarian — or, fiscally
conservative, but socially moderate to liberal.

Libertarians led the way for the tea party. Starting in early
2008 through early 2009, we find that libertarians were more than
twice as “angry” with the Republican Party, more pessimistic about
the economy and deficit since 2001, and more frustrated that people
like them cannot affect government than were conservatives.
Libertarians, including young people who supported Ron Paul’s 2008
presidential campaign, provided much of the early energy for the
tea party and spread the word through social media.

Understanding the tea party’s strong libertarian roots helps
explain how the tea party movement has become a functionally
libertarian influence on the Republican Party. Most tea partiers
have focused on fiscal, not social, issues — cutting
spending, ending bailouts, reducing debt, and reforming taxes and
entitlements — rather than discussing abortion or gay
marriage. Even social conservatives and evangelicals within the tea
party act like libertarians. The tea party is upending the
conventional wisdom that Republican candidates must placate
socially conservative voters to win primaries.

Increasingly, Republican candidates must win over tea party
voters on libertarian economic issues.

To the extent the Republican Party becomes functionally
libertarian, focusing on fiscal over social issues, the tea party
deserves much credit — credit that political strategists,
scholars, and journalists have yet to fully give.

Download the Full
Policy Analysis

David Kirby is vice president
at FreedomWorks and an associate policy analyst for the Cato
Institute. Emily Ekins is the
director of polling at Reason Foundation and a research fellow at
the Cato Institute.